Sponge cake with lemon icing from pauline

When I was a child my favourite phrase was 'Bake a cake!'.

This is the easiest cake I know how to make.

You will need 225g margarine, 225g caster sugar, 275g self-raising flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 4 eggs, 4 tablespoons milk for the sponge cake. You will also need 1 lemon and 225g icing sugar for the icing.

Sponge cake and lemon icing ingredients

- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius - Get a baking tin that’s about 30x20cm if square or just guess as I usually do and hope for the best. My baking tin was round and measured 23cm in diameter - Get some margarine and smear it with your fingers into the baking tin

Buttered tin

- Place flour, sugar and baking powder in large bowl - Mix and make a well at the centre

Mixed flour, sugar and baking powder

- Add the margarine, eggs and milk

Adding margarine, eggs and milk

- Mix the liquid part with a spoon

Starting to mix

- Keep mixing with the spoon with bigger gestures to integrate the flour/sugar into it

Still mixing

- Mix for a bout 2 minutes (just think of the exercise!) - It should be of a beautiful consistency

Finished mixing

- Empty out into your greased tin scooping with a spoon to help you - Use the back of the spoon to even out the surface

Ready to bake

- Put in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes - You will know it is baked when the centre of the cake springs back if you press your finger on it

Baked

- Prepare the icing: - Cut and squeeze one lemon to produce 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Lemons for juice

- Put the lemon juice and icing sugar in a bowl

Icing sugar

- Mix to make a very thick snowy white sludge

Snowy white mixture

- Spread the icing on the cake and leave to set

Lemon icing on sponge cake

- Enjoy with a spot of tea!